13th Annual Public Interest Law Association Auction

02/10/2012 - 5:30pm

Location:

Off campus

Fremont Hotel & Casino

The 13th Annual Public Interest Law Association (PILA) Fundraiser Auction will be held on Friday, February 10, 2012 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Fremont Hotel & Casino. The purpose of the auction is to raise funding for summer internship grants for Boyd students working in the public sector. For more about PILA's Summer Public Interest Grant Program, click here. If you are interested in donating, click here.

For the past two years, PILA has honored a member of the legal community for their commitment to public interest. The newly named Silver Staircase Honor recognizes members of our community who help create access to justice for those with unmet legal needs.

This year, PILA has named Barbara Buckley as the 2012 Silver Staircase Honoree. As the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Barbara was instrumental in establishing the new Civil Law Self-Help Center, located at the Regional Justice Center. In its first year of existence, over 31,000 people received help at the SHC. Additionally, Barbara has been tirelessly raising the funds necessary to expand LACSN in both location and personnel, and broke ground on the expansion on October 10, 2011.

This year, the LACSN-sponsored Ask-A-Lawyer programs also expanded from Family Law, Small Business, and Homeless Assistance Project to include Landlord/Tenant, Foreclosure Mediation, and Bankruptcy. These programs allow individuals to get 15-30 minutes of free legal advice on their specific case, promoting the ability of low-income individuals to access justice. Additionally, Barbara has worked to pass legislation for children in foster care and demonstrated continuous support of Boyd and PILA. Together with her staff, Barbara is consistently working to improve the ability of low-income individuals to get the legal help they need. She is a worthy recipient of this award.

PILA is hoping for 200-300 people to show up to the 2012 auction and their monetary goal is now set at $40,000. They hope to be able to use that money to give out eight $5,000 grants.

Shannon Phenix, PILA president, said the event has had great success in the past.

“Two years ago there was a high turnout and a lot of money was raised,” she said.“Last year, there was a bit of a lull, but it was still a really strong event.”

The $40,000 goal would be a substantial increase from the $14,000 they raised last year, but Marisa Rodriguez-Shapoval, PILA VP in charge of the auction, said that there are a lot of auction items available.

“We’ll have a silent auction, a live auction and a student only auction that starts a few days before,” she said. “We have items that range from a $20 gift certificate at Starbucks to an $800 getaway at the MGM.”

The Public Interest Law Association (PILA) at the William S. Boyd School of Law is a non-profit, student-run organization that works closely with students, faculty, and members of the community to raise awareness about public interest work and opportunities available to law students. For more information about PILA, go to law.unlv.edu/current-students/student-organization/pila/home.html.